AI innovation: Bayer and Syngenta are using AI to develop next-generation herbicides

Around the world, crop protection companies are facing a growing challenge: the growing resistance of weeds to traditional chemical herbicides. To address this challenge, the world's leading agricultural companies, including Bayer, Corteva, BASF and Syngenta, are accelerating the development of new pesticide products with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

For years, farmers have struggled with invasive plants that have developed resistance to a variety of chemical sprays. The head of research and development for Bayer's agricultural business points out that some weeds are already resistant to four or five different chemicals. This has forced farmers to experiment with mixing chemicals in search of more effective herbicide formulations. Pesticide manufacturers also hope to speed up the development of new herbicides through technological innovation.

Companies such as Bayer, Corteva and Syngenta are leveraging AI systems to accelerate the process of new chemicals from discovery to commercialization. Syngenta estimates that AI technology could reduce the average time of this process from 15 years to 10 years, and potentially reduce lab and field testing by 30 percent.

Bayer's AI application 

Bayer is using its in-house developed AI system "CropKey," which breaks the traditional model by effectively applying virtual screening and computational modeling techniques through CropKey to design new molecules that perfectly match the target proteins to meet the agronomic needs of farmers and their expectations for human and environmental safety. Today, Bayer is using the CropKey method to complete the entire application of the R&D pipeline, with more than three times the number of new mechanisms of action a decade ago, and continues to bring breakthrough innovations in crop protection.

Using the CropKey system, Bayer has successfully developed a new herbicide chemical molecule called Icafolin, which is expected to be launched in Brazil in 2028 and will be its first new herbicide in more than 30 years.

Syngenta's AI strategy 

Syngenta is taking a similar approach, using machine learning models to find new active ingredients. According to the company's head of crop protection research, the technology helps the company not only assess the environmental impact of new products, but also their production costs, thus solving chemical innovation challenges in the agrochemical industry.